Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013 has come to pass and it is time to reflect on a few
things about the hobby and look to the future. I have noticed that I am moving
in a new direction over the past two years now away from the fuel of GW into
the land of other types of gaming. Better games, cheaper games and more fun.
That is not to say GW games have not been fun, but with several of their
changes that I dislike in the game and how they are as a company has not
instilled me with the loyalty that I once had to the company as a consumer.

Plus the start of the year was rough with my mother
recovering from having a brain tumor removed and I lived a life of hell at the
hospital for over a week to be there for her. Then at the end of this year, my
wife’s mother passed away that has caused the holidays to not be so great.
Still, this is about going forward and making lemonade from lemons and sipping
that refreshing sweet, yet tart taste of life.

Kickstarters:

I did my first Kickstarter in fall of 2012 and received it
in July for the Reaper Bones I outing. A fun and very worthwhile pledge yet the
Reaper Bones II was a bit more money driven to mine more cash and just threw
out a bunch of junk I could care less about. I pledged a $1 this time around, I
hoped to pick up a few items but with our budget in the crapper I may not be
able to due to lack of funds.

2013 saw a few new Kickstarters hit the table including:

- Crossover Miniatures 2: Rusty did a snap job and delivered
on time. I would back him again. Looking forward to round 3 this year.

- Games and Gears: I pledged for one of their Battle Boards,
the city textured able at 28mm just looks like it will be a huge timesaver and
the cost with shipping over the pond was a great deal. Their prior KS they
delivered on time, so let’s see if they stick to the schedule.

-Winter War: Gav got the fight of his life with this
kickstarter and the huge success of the fans of WW2 gaming (and great timing as
two systems were dropping Finnish/Soviet lists). I am watching mixed progress
here and looking forward to getting my minis.
The major setback for Gav so far is the casting machine going bust over the
holidays.

- Robotech: One of my earlier pledges and perhaps my largest
(up there with Reaper Bones I) to date. A great deal was offered but the setbacks
of the timeframe have been rather disappointing. The minis look great (of the
few previews) that I have seen so far. My bet on this one is at best the end of
spring and more like May/June before we see any actual product. Things are just
going slow and I fear that the models are going to be great but the rules and
testing may not be well thought out. I hope I am wrong on this one.

- Guardian Chronicles Super Heroes Board Game: This game has
me very excited but also the setbacks on this has also been disappointing and
already behind the timeline also for delivery. The concept of the game, the
mini concepts and such are amazing and a great value for the $160 package. I
will give Iello credit that they DO LISTEN to their fans and have done some
great steps as thanks for the support including some free bonus figs and
upgrading the dice once people saw that they was not engraved (but printed)
that made people rather upset. I am much stoked about this game, reminds me of
the Freedom Force video game (that oddly I am playing the squeal right now
Freedom Force Vs the Reich).

2014 appears to be filled with a future of Super Hero
Kickstarters including PulpCity (slated in late
January), Crossover Miniatures 3 and the prospect of Supersystem 3 getting
revamped and put in print! I think with this in mind, I may put some money
aside (or save in Paypal) to use for these in the future.

Bolt Action reflections:

I picked up the book right around the first of the year and
grabbed up the German sourcebook. I started to work with others to pull a gaming
community together of players and generate interest including running some
events at Suncoast Skirmisher game day in Tampa, organized several local
gatherings joined the Warlord Sarge program and setup Salty BayCon tournament
that had a small attendance of 8 which isn’t bad for a first outing. Since then
two LGS have started to offer tournament games that has resulted in between an
average of 8-10 for the most part, we had two with bad attendance but that was
the timing of the year for other things (one was Halloween weekend).

2014 offers a new year and with all the major powers and the
two minor books we will see a series of books about various theatres such as
the Pacific (should be next) and Armored Platoon rules with extra tank
goodness. I hope to make Recon this year as it appears that this and Crucible
will be my gaming cons for the year. I also look forward to getting the French
done and on the table and the Finnish underway and on the tables soon enough!

Other Games:

Strange Aeons: I did no gaming this year, painted some
Reaper Bones and Uncle Mike’s stuff including my entries into the Brush-off
2013 this year. Didn’t win anything this year, but last year I did get second
place! Always next year! I do want to get into the Cult of the Black Goat to
get the t-shirt and free figs for life (of the company) and pick up some of the
new goodness. I really enjoyed this game, but it is a hard sell to new players
for me.

Old West Gaming: Shoot and Skedaddle was purchased in 2013
along with the rules, cards and counters (may get more counters soon). This is
a developing game still but has some great elements that I like such as quick
one off games as well as campaign play. I also have Legends of the Old West and
Rules with No Name to play with as well. I may pick up Dead Man’s Hand in the
future as I hear great things about it. So far, I have about maybe 2 dozen figs
left to paint but no real scenery. Something I may have to tackle in 2014!

Super Hero Games: A small surge of interest has hit with a
friend passing off a large number of HeroClix figs that I have found uses for.
I got Supersystem 3 a little over a year ago (close to 2) and started to pick
up figs from Crossover, Reaper, PulpCity and Supersystem. I
painted some and then got unfocused, so they sat to the side waiting. Now with tease
of Supersystem 3 getting revamped and a second set of rules Super Force Seven
in draft format I am very excited about this. Combined with the new table (that
I need buildings for) this could be a great year of Super gaming!

Pirates: Well, so far I cannot find a good system outside of
Legends of the High Seas. I have kicked around messing with the concept of
Shoot and Skedaddle to adapt over for Pirate games which I think would work
well. In my recent cleaning of the hobby room for the New Year I found myself
wanting to paint my pirates, get some ships done and play some games. Oh
scenery also!

Post Apocalyptic: I have a case full of almost 50 figs, I
bought the After the Horsemen and Wastelands 3 (free rules) and had a small
surge of interest and some good trades that helped me build up a nice
collection but no forward progress. While both rules set are decent they are
not sitting well with me, I may adapt the system again like I may for the
pirate gaming.

Judge Dredd: I may start demo games for this to get some
credit for free stuff. I got a gang from a fellow gamer online on the blog
circles and when I got the rules for free they looked great. Then Warlord took
over making the minis and redid the book! Yea! Looking forward to getting the
book and playing soon! Just need some scenery but the new city table should add to the gaming environment
also! One of my friends already has a Judge gang and I have some of my Ape gang
almost done. Thinking of another gang, but not sure what: BritCit, Robots or
the crazy insane Cal Judge and his group could be a blast. With my supers and
zombie stuff I have enough to do a zombie horde or vigilante already.

Goals of 2014:

My friend Lee wants to do weekly painting, which I like as
you can be social, show off what you are doing and inspire one another as well
as BS about things. I was thinking of
instead suggesting a painting night every other week and gaming on the other
week. I want to paint more and game more plus the mix up makes things fresh. I
plan to call it the League of Extraordinary Painters and Gamers. I figure if we
don’t have an event we are going to that week we can still do a small gathering
and play something.

Projects for 2014:

Reduce clutter in the hobby room (sell stuff or toss)

Paint my Robotech figs (when they show) and try the game
out.

Paint my Guardian Chronicle Figs (when they show) and play
the game.

Paint my Games and GearsCity
Table!

Paint more Super Hero figs and play some Supersystem 3
games!

Finish painting my French and play some games!

Paint my Finnish Army (when it starts to arrive) and play
some games!

Finish my Ape Gang and start a second gang and play using
the new rules!

Finish up the remaining old West Figs before buying more.

Play Shoot and Skedaddle

Paint more Strange Aeons figs and play some games!

Give X-Wing a try! Been interested for a long time!
Give In Her Majesties Name or Ronin a try!

Attend two events this year (Crucible 3 and Recon)

Do weekly (if no other plans) League of Painting and Gaming

Demo more Bolt Action, Demo Judge Dredd (perhaps)

Learn to Airbrush better (practice)

More Blog updates and articles on various things like review
and product features.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Appreciate the good moments as well as the bad ones. These past two years have been a hellish Christmas. Last year my mother was in the hospital trying to survive brain surgery after a large tumor was removed, just an unreal experience. Now, this year my wife's mother passed away just recently. There isn't a great deal of joy going around right now and everyone is just blue and not festive.

So, take a moment to talk to your loved ones, appreciate the moments and find those good memories because you don't know when they will be gone. Make the most out of everything in life. Be safe out there and enjoy the holidays!

About Me

A long time player of Warhammer since 94. I was first introduced to GW products back to my early years with Talisman. I traded a large collection of Magic Cards in to get my first set of Chaos models and a starter kit with 2nd edition. I had played a few games of Rouge Trader back prior in college at Auburn Univeristy. I now live in Florida enjoying a great community of players and tournaments. A great wife graces my life as well as two wonderful basset hounds.
Of late my interests have moved towards Historical and other independent style wargames and developing great looking scenery for my games.